the faithfulness of thy heart; let both of these be manifest to me.
Reveal my true character by thy light, and reward me according to thy
truthful promise. As the sun darts forth his beams, so does the Lord
send forth his favour and his faithfulness towards all his people; and
as all nature rejoices in the sunshine, even so the saints triumph in
the manifestation of the love and fidelity of their God, which, like the
golden sunbeam, lights up even the darkest surroundings with delightful
splendour. “_Let them lead me._” Be these my star to guide me to my
rest. Be these my Alpine guides to conduct me over mountains and
precipices to the abodes of grace. “_Let them bring me unto thy holy
hill, and to thy tabernacles._” First in thy mercy bring me to thine
earthly courts, and end my weary exile, and then in due time admit me to
thy celestial palace above. We seek not light to sin by, nor truth to be
exalted by it, but that they may become our practical guides to the
nearest communion with God: only such light and truth as are sent us
from God will do this, common light is not strong enough to show the
road to heaven, nor will mere moral or physical truths assist to the
holy hill; but the light of the Holy Spirit, and the truth as it is in
Jesus, these are elevating, sanctifying, perfecting; and hence their
virtue in leading us to the glorious presence of God. It is beautiful to
observe how David’s longing to be away from the oppression of man always
leads him to sigh more intensely for communion with God.
4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy:
yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted
within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, _who_ is the
health of my countenance, and my God.
4. “_Then will I go unto the altar of God._” If David might but be
favoured with such a deliverance as would permit his return, it would
not be his own house of heritage which would be his first resort, but to
the altar of God his willing feet should conduct him. His whole heart
would go as a sacrifice to the altar, he himself counting it his
greatest happiness to be permitted to lie as a burnt offering wholly
dedicated to the Lord. With what exultation should believers draw near
unto Christ, who is the antitype of the altar! clearer light should give
greater intensity of desire. “_Unto God my exceeding joy._” It was not
the altar as such that the Psalmist cared for, he was no believer in the
heathenism of ritualism: his soul desired spiritual fellowship,
fellowship with God himself in very deed. What are all the rites of
worship unless the Lord be in them; what, indeed, but empty shells and
dry husks? Note the holy rapture with which David regards his Lord! He
is not his _joy_ alone, but his _exceeding_ joy; not the fountain of
joy, the giver of joy, or the maintainer of joy, but that joy itself.
The margin hath it, “The gladness of my joy,” _i.e._, the soul, the
essence, the very bowels of my joy. To draw near to God, who is such a
joy to us, may well be the object of our hungering and thirsting. “_Yea,
upon the harp will I praise thee._” His best music for his best love.
When God fills us with joy we ought ever to pour it out at his feet in
praise, and all the skill and talent we have should be laid under
contribution to increase the divine revenue of glory. “_O God, my God._”
How he dwells upon the name which he loves so well! He already harps on
it as though his harp music had begun. What sweeter sounds can music
know than these four words? To have God in possession, and to know it by
faith, is the heart’s heaven—a fulness of bliss lies therein.
5. “_Why art thou cast down, O my soul?_” If God be thine, why this
dejection? If he uplifts thee, why art thou so near the ground? The dew
of love is falling, O withering heart, revive. “_And why art thou
disquieted within me?_” What cause is there to break the repose of thy
heart? Wherefore indulge unreasonable sorrows, which benefit no one,
fret thyself, and dishonour thy God? Why overburden thyself with
forebodings? “_Hope in God_,” or “_wait for God_.” There is need of
patience, but there is ground for hope. The Lord cannot but avenge his
own elect. The heavenly Father will not stand by and see his children
trampled on for ever; as surely as the sun is in the heavens, light must
arise for the people of God, though for awhile they may walk in
darkness. Why, then, should we not be encouraged, and lift up our head
with comfortable hope? “_For I shall yet praise him._” Times of
complaint will soon end, and seasons of praise will begin. Come, my
heart, look out of the window, borrow the telescopic glass, forecast a
little, and sweeten thy chamber with sprigs of the sweet herb of hope.
“_Who is the health of my countenance, and my God._” My God will clear
the furrows from my brow, and the tear marks from my cheek; therefore
will I lift up my head and smile in the face of the storm. The Psalm has
a blessed ending, such as we would fain imitate when death puts an end
to our mortal existence.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—This Psalm is evidently a continuation or supplement to
the preceding. In some MSS. of Kennicott and de Rossi’s, they are
united, and make one Psalm.—_George Phillips, B.D._
_Verse 1.—“Judge me, O God, and plead my cause,”_ etc.—Believers may
appeal to God’s justice, and plead God’s righteousness. I. Touching
suffering wrongs of men. II. Touching sin in relation to God’s wrath. I.
Touching suffering wrongs of men, believers may appeal upon these three
grounds: 1. The injustice that men do to believers, is as well against
_God’s just nature_, as against the believers’ ease. So their appeals to
God are agreeable to God’s enmity against injustice; therefore, his
enmity concurs with their appeals. Romans i. 18. 2. Justice in men is
according to God’s nature, as well as for the believer’s welfare, and,
therefore, the disposition and inclination of God’s nature concurs with
their prayers for deliverance. Psalm xi. 7; Luke xxiii. 6, 7. 3. Such
wrong God who do wrong his people (2 Chron. xiv. 11; Zech. ii. 8; Acts
ix. 4, 5); so that in deliverance God vindicates himself as well as the
believers. II. Touching sin in relation to God’s wrath, a true believer
may plead God’s justice or righteousness on these three grounds: 1.
Christ our Advocate or Attorney so pleads. John xvii. 24, etc. Now, the
client may plead the same as the advocate, seeing it is in relation to
the same party and the same issue. 2. Christ hath satisfied God’s
justice, so that on Christ was laid all the sins of all believers. He
was “wounded” for them. Now, God cannot in justice punish twice;
therefore, seeing Christ was wounded, believers must be healed. Isaiah
liii. 3. Believers have God’s righteousness imputed to them (2 Cor. v.);
therefore, God must deal with believers as he will deal with his own
righteousness.
Useful is this doctrine two ways. I. For terror to the enemies of
believers. How many prevailing cries to the justice of God are against
such enemies? 1. Their own sins cry. 2. Believers’ injuries cry. 3.
Believers’ prayers cry. 4. Christ’s intercession cries over again their
prayers and desires (Rev. vi. 9 compared with Rev. viii. 3). II. The
second use is for comfort to believers, that as God’s mercy is for them,
so is his justice to deliver them, not only from _men_, but from _sin_;
and in and through Christ they may humbly plead justice as against
sinners, so against sin; not only against the guilt but against the
power, that seeing Christ died, sin should not live.—_Condensed from
Nathanael Homes, 1652._
_Verse 1.—“Ungodly ... deceitful ... unjust.”_ There are _ungodly_ men
who, being destitute of religious principle, will not scruple to injure
us, when they can thereby gratify their passions or advance their
worldly interests. There are _deceitful_ men who will put on the garb of
friendship, and acquire our confidence and esteem, and then
treacherously cheat us out of our property, or our reputation, or our
peace. There are _unjust_ men, who by fraud or by violence, would rob us
of our dearest rights and most valuable possessions, and not only reduce
our powers and opportunities of doing good, but even diminish our means
of comfortable subsistence. And there are _oppressors_, who taking
advantage of our weakness or dependence, and trampling alike on the
maxims of equity and humanity, may exact from us unreasonable services,
impose upon us heavy burdens and cruel restraints, and ply us with
insults, and harrassments, and deprivations, from which we can make no
escape, and for which we can find no redress.—_Andrew Thomson, D.D., in
“Lectures on Portions of the Psalms,” 1826._
_Verse 2.—“Thou art the God of my strength.”_ The godly man hath from
God a threefold strength, namely: natural, providential, and spiritual.
I. _Natural_, Acts xvii. 28. This is twofold: of body, of mind. Of
robustness, hardness, and agility of body; of wit, invention, and valour
of mind. Now, these donations of corporal and mental natural endowments
are God’s gifts. Psalm xviii. 43, 39.... II. _Providential_ strength,
which is threefold: 1. God’s donation of strengthening mercies. (1)
Corporal: wine to make glad, and bread to strengthen. Psalm civ. 15. (2)
Mental, common gifts; as Paul had a singular gift of language and single
life; Apollos of elocution, argument, power of convincing. 2.
Providential strength is God’s making way for his people to act and put
forth their strength. Psalm lxxviii. 50. 3. Providential strength is
God’s concurrence with our lawful human acting. Psalm xviii. 29.
III. The third sort of power is _spiritual_: God is the godly man’s
spiritual power. 1 John ii. 14: “I have written unto you, young men,
because ye are strong,” namely, with spiritual strength, for it follows,
“The word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.”
This is the main strength of a godly man; as that text hints, namely,
young men are naturally strong, but St. John takes no notice of that,
but commends them for their spiritual strength. This spiritual strength
is from the word of the Spirit, and from the Spirit of the word, that
is, from the Spirit accompanying the word. 1. From _the word of the
Spirit_, the word of God. Psalm cxix. 50: “This is my comfort in my
affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.” To be “_quickened_,”
_i.e._, enlivened, is to be full of vigour and spirit and to act
mightily, and to “_comfort_” is, as the word signifies, to make strong;
for when a man is most cheerful with sobriety, he is most strong. St.
John in that place fore-quoted, saith the young men to whom he wrote
were strong because the word of God abode in them. For (Prov. xii. 25)
“whereas sorrow in the heart of man maketh it stoop”—makes it sickly,
weak, drooping—“a good word maketh it glad,” cheerful, strong, vigorous.
And so if the word of a wise friend, how much more the word of God, with
its many strengthening promises? Psalm xx. 2; cxix. 28. The word of God
is the very mind and will of God, and power of God, and with the word
God created the world, therefore, he that receives this word must needs
receive a great deal of strength. Romans i. 16.
2. _The Spirit of the word_, the Holy Spirit that useth to accompany the
word to them that receive it. By his Spirit God is in a believer (1 Cor.
vi. 9; Eph. ii.); and this is the spirit of strength and power. Eph.
iii. 16; 2 Tim. i. 7. As a powerful, active soul makes a vigorous body,
so the Spirit in the soul makes the soul powerful and strong, being the
soul of the soul of a believer. We read more than once or twice in the
Scriptures, that when believers did any eminent act, it is said, _the
Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they did_ so and so, _i.e._, the
Spirit of God in them did then put forth its power to make them act
powerfully.—_Condensed from Nathanael Homes._
_Verse 3.—“O send out thy light and thy truth.”_ Possibly there may be
an allusion to the Urim and Thummim, as the symbol of light and
truth.—_J. J. Stewart Perowne._
_Verse 3.—“Light and Truth.”_ Delightful and all-comprehensive words.
They contain all the salvation and all the desire of a believing,
confiding soul. But it is only when thus combined—separated they are no
longer a ground of trust and joy. For what would favour avail without
faithfulness? It would be no more than the uncertain friendship of men,
who smile to-day and reproach to-morrow; who make large promises, but do
not perform them. Even the “_light_” which angels and glorified spirits
enjoy in heaven would be insufficient to banish all fear and to fill
them with satisfaction, were it not for their confidence in the
“_truth_” of God. How much more, then, must this be the case with
erring, sinful mortals on earth? When the humble spirit is bowed down
under a sense of its utter unworthiness and innumerable weaknesses and
defilements, its negligences, follies, and wanderings, what should save
from despair but the confidence that he who has been merciful will also
be faithful; that God is truth as well as light; that he hath said, “I
will never leave thee nor forsake thee;” that he “_cannot_ lie,” and
that, therefore, “his mercy endureth for ever”? On the other hand,
_truth_ without _light_, faithfulness without grace, would be only the
dreadful execution of terrible but just denunciations on the
transgressors of the holy law. “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die.” Adam ate, and in that day became the subject of sin
and death. This was _truth_ executing judgment. But _light_ arose around
the darkness; beams of mercy tempered the heavy cloud. The promise of
the Great Deliverer was given; then faithfulness was enlisted on the
side of grace, and became engaged for its bestowment; “mercy and truth
met together; righteousness and peace kissed each other.” Since then,
all humble and trusting souls have beheld them united, and have made
their union the ground of their confidence and joy.—_Henry March._
_Verse 3.—“Thy tabernacles.”_ There were two tabernacles, one at Zion,
where the ark stood, and another at Gibeon. 1 Chron. xvi. 37, 39. It is
not to this fact that the Psalmist alludes, however, but to the
circumstance, in all probability of the different parts of the
tabernacle. There was, first the holiest of all, then the sanctuary, and
then the tabernacle of the convocation. Heb. ix. 1-8.—_John Morison._
_Verse 4.—“Then will I go unto the altar of God.”_ Let us remember that
the approach to God in the holy place is by means of the altar, whence
eternally ascendeth the fragrance and the preciousness of the one whole,
perfect burnt-offering, and where for ever and ever the divine holiness
resteth and feedeth with its pure fire with infinite satisfaction, with
inconceivable delight. Oh, what a holy, a divine, a wondrous place is
this “_altar of God_!” That altar now means all the value and
everlasting efficacy of the one offering of Christ unto God for us; and
it is in the full power and blessedness thereof that we draw nigh to
God. To this point, to this unspeakably blessed position, the light and
the truth of God will attract the child of God. Toward this altar all
the rays of the light of divine favour and grace, and of divine truth,
and holiness, have from eternity converged; and from this point they
shine forth toward and upon the soul and heart of the poor, far-off
penitent, attracting him to that altar where he may meet his God. Let us
then come to the altar of God; let us enter the cloud of holy incense
that filleth the tabernacle of the Most High; let us realise how
perfectly God is satisfied with that which Christ has done, with his
obedience in dying to meet the claims of divine justice on the sinner,
and to complete the perfect surrender of himself as our “_exceeding
joy_,” even the gladness of our joy, the heart, essence, substance, and
reality of our joy.—_John Offord, 1868._
_Verse 4.—“Then will I go unto the altar of God.”_ He would with
cheerfulness run and offer up the sacrifices of thanksgiving to his
gracious deliverer; he would take his own soul as the burnt-offering,
and kindle and burn it up with the fire of a vigorous love and raised
affections terminating upon God, the flames whereof should ascend to him
alone.... “_Unto God my exceeding joy_,” or, as the Hebrew is more
exactly translated, _unto God the gladness of his joy_—that which gave a
relish to every other comfort, which was the soul and life of his
pleasures, and could only make them real and lasting; it was God who
raised his joy to fulness of satisfaction and contentment.—_William
Dunlop._
_Verse 4.—“Then will I go ... unto God.”_ The expression of _going to
God_ implies SUBMISSION and FRIENDSHIP. I. _Submission._ I will go and
pay my homage to him, as my Sovereign; I will go and hear what he says;
I will go and receive his orders. II. _Friendship._ I will go and
consult him, and converse with him as a friend; and be thankful that, in
such a troublesome and ensnaring world, I have such a friend to advise
with. 1. I will go and tell him my _griefs_; how greatly I am distressed
with some particular disorder in my body, or with some disturbance in my
family, or with some disappointment in my worldly circumstances, or
(which is worse than all of them together) with a sad darkness in my
soul. 2. I will go and tell him my _joys_, for even in this vale of
tears “my heart is” sometimes “glad, and my glory rejoiceth.” 3. I will
go and tell him of my _sins_. He knows them, indeed, already, but he
shall hear them from _me_. 4. I will go and tell him my _fears_; how
greatly I am distressed at times, when I perceive this or the other
corruption so strong, which I thought had received its death wound ...
how I tremble when I have by my folly provoked the Lord to leave me, for
fear he will never return again, etc. 5. I will go and tell him my
_hopes_, for some hope I have amidst all my discouragements.... I will
go and tell him all this; I will unbosom and unburthen my whole heart to
him; and if my _necessities_ did not _drive_ me to him, I should go to
him from inclination.—_Condensed from Samuel Lavington._
_Verse 4.—“Unto God.”_ Believers are not satisfied in the use of
religious duties, unless they arrive at God himself in those duties. We
speak not here of that arrival at God himself which is by and after all
duties, to a beatifical vision of God in glory, but we speak of that
arrival at God himself which is to be had in duties, while we are in the
exercise of duties; namely, to attain to God’s _special_ presence in
them, in an actual communion, communication and conversing with God, so
that we are spiritually sensible he is with us therein. I say God’s
_special_ presence and actual communion, to distinguish it from that
ordinary habitual presence and communion of God’s being with a believer
at all times. John xiv. 16.—_Nathanael Homes._
_Verse 4.—“My exceeding joy.”_ The Psalmist might well call God his
_exceeding_ joy, for it infinitely exceeds all other joy in its nature,
degree, and duration.—_Samuel Lavington._
_Verse 4.—“My exceeding joy.”_ As faith acquires more strength we come
to think of God and address him in more endearing terms.—_J. P. Lange._
_Verse 4.—“Exceeding joy.”_ This can be said of no other joy. All other
beauties have their boundaries, all other glories have their glooms.
This is that illimitable sea, _God_.—_E. Paxton Hood._
_Verse 5.—“Why art thou cast down O my soul.”_ He comes to his former
remedy; he had stilled his grief once before with the same meditation
and upbraiding of his own soul, and chiding himself; but he comes to it
here as a _probatum est_, as a tried remedy; he takes up his soul very
short, “_Why art thou so cast down, O my soul? and why art thou
disquieted within me?_” You see how David’s passions here are interlaced
with comforts, and his comforts with passions, till at last he gets the
victory of his own heart. Beloved, neither sin nor grief for sin, are
stilled and quieted at the first. You have some short-spirited
Christians, if all be not quiet at the first, all is lost with them; but
it is not so with a true Christian soul, with the best soul living. It
was not so with David when he was in distemper; he checks himself, the
distemper was not yet stilled; he checks himself again, then the
distemper breaks out again; he checks himself again, and all little
enough to bring his soul to a holy, blessed, quiet, temper, to that
blessed tranquillity and rest that the soul should be in before it can
enjoy its own happiness, and enjoy sweet communion with God. As you see
in physic, perhaps one purge will not carry away the peccant humour,
then a second must be added; perhaps that will not do it, then there
must be a third; so when the soul hath been once checked, perhaps it
will not do, we must fall to it again, go to God again. And then it may
be there will be breaking out of the grief and malady again; we must to
it again, and never give over, that is the right temper of a
Christian.—_Richard Sibbes._
_Verse 5.—“Hope in God.”_ The more terrible the storm, the more
necessary is the anchor. Heb. vi. 19.—_William S. Plumer._
_Verse 5.—“Hope in God.”_ The complete and perfect state of God’s
children here is not in re, but in _spe_: as Christ’s kingdom is not of
this world, so is not our hope. The worldling’s motto is, “a bird in the
hand.” Give me to-day, say they, and take to-morrow whoso will. But the
word of believers is, _spero meliora_—my hopes are better than my
present possessions.—_Elnathan Parr._
_Verse 5._—The varied conflicts of the soul afford occasion for the
exercise of the graces, and thus, through the divine wisdom and
goodness, are made the means of eventual good.—_Henry March._
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Verse 1._—We apply to God—I. As our _Judge_: “_Judge me._” II. As our
_Advocate_: “_Plead my cause._” III. As our _Deliverer_: “_O deliver
me._”
_Verse 1._—Popular opinion outweighed by divine approbation.
_Verse 1._—How the Lord pleads the cause of his people.
_Verse 1._—Deceit and injustice twin vipers; their origin, their
character, their folly, their end.
_Verses 1, 2, 4, 5._—_Five mys_: 1. My cause—“_plead it_.” 2. My
strength—“_thou art_.” 3. My joy—God is. 4. My soul—“_why disquieted_.”
5. My God.
_Verse 2.—“The God of my strength.”_ From whom it is derived, to whom it
is dedicated, in whom it resides, by whom it shall be perfected.
_Verse 2 (first clause)._—1. From thee it comes. 2. By thee it is
sustained. 3. To thee it is dedicated. 4. By thee it will be perfected.
5. By thee it will be rewarded. _Verse 2 (second clause)._—I. _The
nature of apparent forsaking._ Painful, protracted, perplexing. II. _The
cause of it._ Secret sin to be laid bare, past sin chastised, graces
tried, faith ultimately strengthened, etc. III. _The best conduct under
it._ Appeal to God, confess, submit, pray, trust, etc.
_Verse 2 (last clause)._—The two “whys.” The questions themselves; the
spirit in which they may be asked. The answers which may be given.
_Verse 3.—“O send out thy light and thy truth.”_ I. What is truth? II.
How truth is to be diffused. III. Why it should be diffused. IV. Who
must be the main agent of it.—_Varied from Dr. Bogue. 1800._
_Verse 3._—The blessings desired; the guidance sought; the end longed
for.
_Verse 3._—Under what influence we should resort to divine worship.
_Verse 4._—I. The good man’s duty—expressed by _going to God_. II. His
_blessedness_—expressed by _rejoicing in God_.—_Samuel Lavington._
_Verse 4 (first clause)._—When? “_Then._” Where? “_Altar of God._” Who?
“_I._” Why? “_My exceeding joy._”
_Verse 4 (second clause)._—It is God alone who can be an exceeding joy
to his creatures.—_W. Dunlop’s Sermons._
_Verse 4._—The joy of joy. The soul of soul joy.
_Verse 4._—The great object of public worship, its bliss, and the praise
resulting from attaining it.
_Verse 4._—I. _The medium of joy_, the altar of God, or God in Christ
Jesus. II. _The springs of joy_, or the attributes of God—mercy,
justice, power, holiness, as seen in the atonement. III. _The value of
joy_, as comfort, strength, etc.
_Verse 4.—“God my exceeding joy.”_ A most rich and precious title.
_Verse 4 (last clause)._—Possession, praise, resolution.
_Verse 5._—Discouragement’s recovery.—_R. Sibbes’s Sermons._